Right of way for a raised crossing?

Question

The new Cycle Superhighway 3 goes through Hyde Park, London,UK on West Carriage Drive.

It contains a number of points at which pedestrians are evidently intended to cross, as the roadway and cycleway is raised.

Unfortunately, this is the best picture I have of one which was taken while CS3 was under construction: the raised segment of the crossing continues into the cycle lane.

However, I have noticed on my commutes that very few cyclists or pedestrians seem to know who has the priority at these crossings. They are not laid out like zebra crossings, as exist on some cycle lanes in london, which had led me to believe that the cyclists had priority, and the raised sections were advisory in nature to pedestrians, just like crossing islands are usually when not marked by a zebra crossing.

The highway code seems to me to be silent on the issue: it only mentions specific types of marked crossings, rather than generic raised crossings with no markings.

Who has the priority here?

As requested by one of the comments, this is what one of these looks like:

Both from West Carriage Drive in Hyde Park https://maps.app.goo.gl/L3J2urZCehHJj1Uj8

Answer 1

The vehicular and cycle traffic has priority, since the crossing is not a zebra crossing and there are no traffic lights, which are the only situations in which the Highway Code talks about pedestrians having priority.

However, as you have noted, many people seem to be confused by the crossing, so you should be ready to stop in case a pedestrian does step into the roadway or cycle lane. Also, be alert to the possibility of motorists stopping and beckoning pedestrians to cross into your path and the possibility of a group of pedestrians blocking the cycle path because it was clear when they started to cross but now they're waiting for cars on the road.

Answer 2

According to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 (TSRGD) and Highway Code pedestrians only have priority at zebra and parallel crossings (which include stripes flashing orange Belisha beacons, single dashed give way markings and zig-zags) and when crossing a side road at a junction, and at a crossing of a cycle track marked with zebra stripes or just double dashed give way lines against the cycles or at traffic signal controlled crossings and junctions with pedestrian lights.

The situation in the photo is an informal courtesy crossing with illegal and misleading signage. The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (which must be adhered to on publicly accessible roads in the UK) states that the triangle sign used is only to warn of zebra and parallel crossings. The Traffic Signs Manual indicates it should be placed some distance in advance of the crossing, not at it. Therefore you could reasonably interpret it to mean that you needed to give way 20m or 50m down the road at a zebra-type crossing. The text on the plate beneath the sign is not in the TSRGD so is illegal unless it has approval from the Secretary of State for Transport. If at a formal controlled crossing on a raised table it should say 'Humped crossing'. In the event of a collision the Highway Code, TSRGD and TM can be easy to argue that the incorrect signage is dangerously confusing.

The correct signage in advance of the courtesy crossing would be an '!' warning sign with 'Pedestrians crossing' beneath e.g. https://images.app.goo.gl/VriHygDAECDWyvgJ9 and also have a hump warning sign (or 'Traffic calmed area' sign) if the road is not in a 20mph zone.

Answer 3

English law is actually very clear. It is deemed to be who is at fault. Pedestrians are very rarely at fault (a resent case of a pedestiran crossing a road whilst looking at her mobile phone only partially relieved the cyclist of fault.) Even if there is no crossing at all, a pedestrian will rarely be found at fault under English Law.

In this instance both motorists and cyclists are clearly being warned of a pedestrian crossing. You will also find a warning triangle some distance ahead of the crossing. There are again triangles in front of the raised crossing. Therefore if a cyclist or motorist hits the pedestian, then 99.9% of the time the cyclist or the motorist will be deemed at fault. Furthermore, if the pedestiran if injured or killed this could result in a criminal conviction against the cyclist or motorist.

Therefore act diligently and give way to the pedestrian.

Answer 4

The highway code simply makes little-to-no reference to this specific situation. There does appear to be a somewhat similar raised crossing in the image below rule 206:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/road-users-requiring-extra-care-204-to-225

In this image the cars have the yield triangle signifying the give-way. This seems to suggest, albeit not in writing, that the pedestrians have priority. That fits with the overall theme of the code that pedestrians have the priority at designated crossings that aren't signal controlled.